Austria Part III: The Venetian War. 1497 ..
War commenced in June of that fatidic year, a year of changes for Austria... Maximilian's I greatest Hour...
* The Alliances in place , on the respective sides are
Venice, with Teutonic Order, Prussia and the Hanse....
Austria, with it's 3 allies, Bohemia, Hungary & Saxony.
Venice will have trouble getting help from it's allies, although it is extremely powerful in it's own right
with it's economic power, and high technology levels...
It must be noted that Venice is embroiled in a war with Greece at the time, weakening it.
We have 3x Armies that have been built up since 1492.
Here is our Order of Battle:
1- Col Shramm in Tyrol 12.5 Inf/11.7 Cav/50 Artillery , moves into Mantua
2- Col Jager in Styria 31.0 Inf/3.0 Cav/60 Artillery, moves to Venice
3- Col Leuther in Carnolia with 10 Inf & 50 cannons , moves to Itria... (High Attrition Province)
We raise 11,000 new infantry, to be able to replace losses and reinforce as needed.
Hungary sends 38,000 troops into Illyria, to massive losses due to startvation & attrition.
In other parts of the world, Algiers DOW's Navarra
and the Palatinat makes peace with lorraine for........ 23 Ducats...
In Venice, we assault the fortress in August, losing 5000 Infantry, 1000 Cav & 1 cannon.
Venice offers a white peace, we refuse.
On August 26th, Mantua is captured..... Great rejoicing is done in the land.
In Istria, we assault the fortress, due to lack of progress, and lose 2300 men to 1900 defenders.
At the same time, 6000 new Venetian troops attack in Istria 2 weeks later... We are still reeling from the
assault but the new troops from Venice are even more shaky... We lose 350 men, they lose 1000 and retreat to
Odenburg & Salztburg, laying waste to our 2x provinces... ("Pillaged")..
The remnants are caught and engaged in Saltzburg, where we lose 200 men to their 2000. They are immediately
followed into Ostmarch and destroyed to the last man.
In Istria, having been reinforced by 6000 men from Carnolia, we assault the fortress again and lose 2,400 men
to 1,900 defenders.
While this is happening, Venice offers Mantua, we refuse.
T.O. offers to gives us peace for 250 Ducats, we say no &
Prussia offers White peace and we accept.
1498: We are promoted to Viscount, as part of our efforts on the beahlf of his Majesty, Maximillian I.
France settles Peace with Spain, and is the BIG winner... Both Artois & France Comte are given to France
and we are happy that France has humbled the growing Superpower of Spain....
February 1498, Venice falls to our Main Army, under jager.... Immediately, we peel off 11,300 Infantry &
59 Cannons to move to Istria, in 2x separate columns to reduce attrition.
Attrition is at 20%/Month In Istria, we order Immediate assault
15,000 Infantry & 106 Cannones.... vs 6,270 entrenched defenders.
We Lose, Gulp, 7000 men with attrition and assault, there are 2,180 fanatics left between Istria's Walls
The Hanseatic League declares War on Spain.... which is allied to Naples, P-L, Scotland & the Mamelukes...
Now Venice, is dragged into this war with the T.O., Prussia & Venice.
France settles peace with England and Pay's england 125 ducats to boot... Because lorraine grabbed Calais
from under the french noses, the settle with England even though they had won. Lorraines get's nothing for
it's troubles, doubtless because France wants Calais for itself, not to go to one of it's allies.
Istria still does not fall ! We lose 2,200 troops to attrition, but Walls are at -1.
We again lose another 2,200 troops, Col Karenski assaults Istria's Walls, and the castle finally,
finally falls....
Diplomatic Events: * Papal states settles with Naples, and gives it 59 Ducats and ROMAGNA !
* On June 11th, we make peace with Venice... The War is Over..... We have won an immense victory,
although it was costly on us.
Peace Terms: * We get Mantua, a rich venetian province.
* we get Istria, so-costly Istria, our sought after PORT on the Meditteranean.
* We settle for 250Gold, they send us 150.... Grrrrrr....
[Note: We have the feeling Venice had money, but no manpower left, especially with the Cyclades battles with Greece.
This was critical in our Victory, as lesser amounts of venetian troops would have been able to bushwack us, fight
us to a standstill, or even win...]
* Hungary gets nothing, for massive attrition losses in Illyria
We send 25G to hungary, relations back up to 200 from 180
We send 25G to Bohemia, relations back up to 196 from 180.
We raise some troops in Mantua, and Col Immelmann in Mantua has the largest army now, with
26,000 Infantry, 11,500 Cavalry and 60 cannons... We have the feeling that civil revolts will be ferocious,
considering the nationalist feelings for Venice in that province.
Karenski's Army of Silesia in Istria has 500 Infantry, 2000 Cavalry and 103 (!) cannons... Losses were horrendous
but we are a changed nation....
We appoint a Tax Collector in Istria
We raise 10,000 troops in Tyrol
Prussia settles with P-L, and gives 85 ducats.
Navarra settles with Spain for 185 (!) ducats, a large sum....
Consequences: * a PORT on the Med, so now we get 1/Colonist (100 people or so) a Year appear on the docks
to colonize the unknown lands.
* Our National Manpower is at 27,000 Men Total, a large increase in mobilization power.
* 2x of our provinces, Odenburg & Saltzburg are still in flames (pillaged).
* We can build ships, and receive explorers to send out to explore the New World.
* Our Income is 24.1 /Per month.
1499. The War's aftermath....
Annual Income: 294 in Treasury, we receive 146 for the year in trade and other income.
We are up to 25.1/Per month Income
Brig. General Von Frunsberg is appointed to head the Army in Mantua, and crush revolts as they happen.
War Aims: Bavaria, and Milan are watched closely.
New Army raised in Saltzburg, 6000 Infantry & 3000 cavalry... Bavaria will be it's target in the future.
In February,
* England settles Peace with Portugal & Pay's 184 gold.
* P-L settles with France for 62 ducats.
* Cologne refuse RM
* Palatinat refuse RM.
* Naples settles with France & Pay's 30 ducats
* Naples settles with Portugal, status Quo peace.
We send 60 cannons from Istria to Styria, redeploying our army. We raise 5000 Infantry in Istria.
in April, we reach Artillery Support technology (LT-4) and our first Naval Technology, NT-1 Advanced Rudder !
Saltzburg receives Styria cannons, and Col Karenski is appointed to head this army.
In Oct 1499, Persia DOW's Venice.. We are flabbergasted.. Who is Persia ? We love Venice to have
enemies, but we would like to know who they are, at least to congratulate them in their choice of foes <g>
Dec 1499, we are down to 4 Merchants in Venice.
Next, Chapter 4, the War of the Ball, or how we attacked Milan at their Ducal Ball...
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Let me know how you like it ! Thanks already for the comments...
take care
jean
